Too Long Gone

Hard to believe I haven't blogged here in over four years. With the decision to revamp and restart my Etsy shop I decided it was time to go back to writing about what I love.

I won't say that I stopped tatting, it is hard to stop doing something completely when you love the designing and the outcome, if not the actual making of the piece. I did stop showing my work online. I ran into far too many well intentioned tatters that were hell bent on making sure I knew I was doing it wrong. Because I was new and insecure in my abilities I went into tat-land and asked tons of questions. I came up with ideas and asked for advice on how to execute them. I posted images of my variations on other patterns.

I was shot down repeatedly.

It is extraordinarily hard to feel confident in a new craft when you are told that it what you want to do wont work, that it is wrong, and that you are a thief.
I grew up learning art by studying what others had done, and by recreating that art in my own way. Some say that is the best way to learn, for example, how a painter used light or layered color in their work. You don't sell these pieces, often you do a good whitewash on your canvas and start over; sometimes you will hang them up or give them away. I made the mistake of thinking that tatting had similarities. I wouldn't have been able to figure out or adapt techniques without looking at, or working off other tatters work. I won't say there weren't a lot of tatters that were super encouraging and helpful... but I'm sure you know that saying about One Bad Apple.

But that was then. Four years later I've grown and learned what it is about tatting and other crafts that I love. I've learned to take the parts that I love about those crafts, and combine them into pieces that I adore. I've learned to look at vintage patterns and see the pieces in a wider context, and I've lost that odd fear I had of doing things wrong.

My goal for the weekend is to list every single item that I have ready for sale on Etsy. I promise not to bombard this blog with everything I list, but expect quite a few updates in the next few weeks, and a lot more to come.